Leicester Tigers head coach Matt O’Connor has been handed an early pre-season boost.

With the bulk of the Tigers players midway through their second week of preparation for the new season, O’Connor says he believes that centres Matt Toomua and Manu Tuilagi, together with prop forward Logovi’i Mulipola, should all be fit for selection when the opening Premiership game against Bath comes along on September.

Toomua has not played since October and Tuilagi has been ruled out since New Year, both men having been hit by serious knee injuries. Mulipola suffered a torn meniscus at Exeter on Christmas Eve, which ended his season.

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“Matt trained yesterday which was brilliant,” said O’Connor as he met the media for the first time this pre-season. “He was back involved with the main group for the first time in a long time.

“Manu and Logo are probably a couple of weeks away. The thinking is that they will play in the pre-season games and they will be available for Prem one, which is a huge boost for the squad.”

Centre Matt Toomua has been in full training at the start of pre-season. Picture - Getty Images

The likes of winger Tom Brady, who ended last term in a knee brace, should also be fit come the start of the campaign and the only real doubt surrounds South African front-rower Pat Cilliers, who has a groin issue which saw him miss the run-in last season.

O’Connor said: “That’s a niggly situation but all indications are that he will be around by the middle of September, hopefully.

“It is one of the positions where we are OK if we stay injury free but it doesn’t take much before we have to go into that depth.

“But we are doing OK. I think the squad is a little bit more rounded and a little bit more versatile so we should, fingers crossed and with a little bit of luck, be OK.”

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O’ Connor has added fly-halves George and Joe Ford to his squad with Gareth Owen, Jonah Holmes and Nick Malouf arriving to bolster the backline.

Sione Kalamafoni and Dominic Ryan have also come in to challenge for places among the forward pack. However, the Tigers boss was not ruling out further additions in the weeks ahead.

“We are always looking, that is the reality,” he said. “It is just around how much is in the cap and what the budget says and the financial restraints around the spend.

“It is forever a juggling act and trying to manage those dynamics but we are always in the market for world class players.

“Recruitment is a 12-month cycle so we are always looking for blokes who can make us better.”

O’Connor is happy with the quality of the squad that he has to work with – and the physical condition of the players as they get down to the hard work of building towards the pre-season matches against the Ospreys – at Bridgend and Welford Road – and Treviso.

“The effort that the lads have put in is really pleasing,” he said.

“They have all come back in great shape which has given us a great base to work off.